Many faces have come and gone during the insider trading case of imprisoned former Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio, who is slated to receive a new sentence Thursday. Under one methodology U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger is considering, Nacchio would receive a shorter prison term. Here’s a look at the cast of characters who are here and those who have left since the 2007 trial.

Hanging tough

Government:

James Hearty – The assistant U.S. attorney delivered the trial’s opening statement. Hearty (pictured) has been involved in the case since the very beginning.

Kevin Traskos – The assistant U.S. attorney handled the cross-examination of Nacchio’s expert witness Daniel Fischel during trial. Traskos has also filed much of the paperwork related to the re-sentencing.

Anjan Thakor – New to the case, Thakor is a finance professor at Washington University in St. Louis who is serving as the government’s expert witness during Nacchio’s re-sentencing. He says Nacchio illegally gained between $23.5 million to $32.9 million.

Nacchio:

Sean Berkowitz – He was a lead attorney in the Justice Department’s successful prosecution of former Enron honchos Jeff Skilling, serving time at a prison in Littleton, and Ken Lay, who passed away in July 2006, which vacated his conviction. Berkowitz (pictured), now a partner in Chicago with Latham & Watkins, joined Nacchio’s team in 2008. He has a Vin Diesel-like persona in the courtroom and is now Nacchio’s lead attorney.

Daniel Fischel – The Northwestern University business law professor served as an expert witness for Nacchio during trial and is serving in the same capacity during the re-sentencing. He says Nacchio gained $1.8 million from the nonpublic information on which Nacchio based the stock sales that led to his conviction.

Long gone

Government:Cliff Stricklin – Lead trial attorney is now a defense attorney with HRO in Denver. He was previously with Holland & Hart.Read more…

Federal prosecutors want imprisoned former Qwest chief executive Joe Nacchio to show up in Denver federal court when he receives a new sentence June 24.

Nacchio’s presence at the hearing would help achieve some of the goals of sentencing, such as “having the defendant personally receive the
official expression of the condemnation of his conduct, showing confidence in the justness of the sentence, promoting respect for the law, promoting deterrence and treating victims fairly,” Assistant U.S. attorney Kevin Traskos wrote in a court document filed Monday.

Nacchio’s attorneys had previously waived his right to appear at the resentencing. Convicted on 19 counts of insider trading in 2007, Nacchio began serving a six-year prison term in April at a federal prison camp in Pennsylvania.

A jury found Nacchio guilty of illegally selling $52 million in Qwest stock in early 2001 based on material, insider information.

In July 2009, a federal appeals court ordered a new sentence for Nacchio, ruling that the trial judge miscalculated Nacchio’s gains during the initial sentencing. The sentence is based, in part, on the amount of money Nacchio is determined to have illegally gained from having the insider information, which included warnings from senior executives that Qwest’s financial health was deteriorating.

In waiving his right to physically appear at sentencing, Nacchio cited the case of Adelphia founder John Rigas and his son, Timothy, who appeared at their resentencing hearing via videoconferencing from prison in 2008.

Prosecutors said the videoconferencing option is not available under 10th Circuit rules, which covers Colorado. They also noted that John Rigas was over 80 years old and had health problems, including bladder cancer.

John Rigas had his 15-year sentence for securities fraud and other charges cut to 12 years. Timothy Rigas had his reduced from 20 years to 17 years.

Traskos noted that Nacchio didn’t give a reason for why he shouldn’t attend the sentencing.

“Given the lack of any such reason, it might create the impression of
unfairness to allow the defendant to skip his sentencing,” Traskos wrote in the court filing.

Emilie Rusch covers retail and commercial real estate for The Post. A Wisconsin native and Mizzou graduate, she moved to Colorado in 2012. Before that, she worked at a small daily newspaper in South Dakota. It's the one with Mount Rushmore.